Spring Statement: Noonan hopes up to €1.5bn budget leeway will put spring in voters’ steps

Yesterday’s Spring Economic Statement, while seen as a de facto general election launch for the Fine Gael-Labour coalition, also gives us an idea about how much cash is in the Government’s coffers. 

The Finance Minister promised there would be “no more boom and bust” cycles while saying there would be “expansionary budgets” from now up until 2020. October’s budget will allow the Coalition space to spend between €1.2bn and €1.5bn. How it gets spent is the all-important question.

There are a number of competing interests at play: